Practice aids are required by tennis players of all levels. Experienced players need regular practice to maintain and develop keen hand-eye coordination and to maintain a competitive level of play. Recreational players need practice and exercise on their own schedules when partners may not be available. Beginners need concentrated practice on the fundamentals of table tennis, to develop strokes and a game style suitable for more serious play.
One practice aid or training device for self practicing table tennis, ping pong or like games is to hit the ball against a resilient back surface, such as one half of a foldable table which has been folded such that one half thereof is substantially perpendicular. This has a disadvantage in that, firstly not all tables can be folded in this manner and, secondly, it does not aid practice on the full length of the table in its normal horizontal position.
Practice aids or training devices for table tennis and the like are known including apparatus for projecting one or more balls towards the player. Some known devices have also incorporated means to facilitate recovery and recycling of balls which have fallen out of play. However, such devices have generally tended to be somewhat limited in that the angle of projection of the delivered balls cannot be readily varied during play and because a variety of strokes cannot be played or practiced to provide sufficient game practice.
In addition some practice aids have been relatively complex to manufacture and there is a need to provide a practice aid or training aid which is versatile in performance while being simple in concept and relatively low in manufacturing costs.